


The Legend of Shinigami

by Talliya



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-01-15 19:17:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1316254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talliya/pseuds/Talliya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duo has an ability that he doesn't know about, an ability that his parents hoped he wouldn't inherit. It's up to a pack of mystic wolves to make sure the world as humans know it isn't destroyed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Movement

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any rights to Gundam Wing or its characters. This work is not for profit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any rights to Gundam Wing in any way. This is purely fan made and non-profit!  
> A guide to the way I write: /.../ are thoughts, *...* are flashbacks, are people on the other end of a phone/video chat conversation, ^...^ are dream sequences.

There was an animalistic shine outside the living room window. Duo couldn’t figure out what it was, but he did know that he couldn’t look away from it. He felt compelled to watch: he’d tried to look away a few times when the enigma outside seemed to blink, but something other than just his eyes held him there. Some force that he felt deep in his bones, a feather light caress to his senses, the whispering of a voice deep in his mind; it made his breathing slow and measured, feeling as though anything else would shatter the moment. The voice was familiar and Duo felt that if he stared long enough at the twin gleams in the night lit forest he would be able to clearly hear the voice in the back of his mind and learn why it haunted his dreams and now tingled through his system.

When he was younger those dreams had scared him, waking him and his parents with his screaming, so his parents had taken him to see a psychologist about them. However, as he got older Duo began to understand the dreams, and that they weren’t going to leave no matter what he willed. They still bothered him for they were generally disturbing, and if he didn’t think of them as ‘nothing but dreams’ he would probably claim that he was certifiably insane. But Duo had learned that he could control what happened in them, making it so that his parents never died anymore, the friends he made weren’t eaten by wild animals or ripped apart by crazy cultists. Frankly Duo would still be going to see the “doctor” even now if he hadn’t lied and told them all that the dreams had stopped. The shrink had been no help at all and Duo didn’t want his parents to waste their money anymore, not when he felt that he was in control.

Now Duo could see himself reflected in the glass as he gazed out the window at the orbs and knew he looked like a shipwreck: the whole drowned-rat look without the water and tattered cloths of a street waif. The color of his eyes were dimmed by the purple-black circles around them from stress and a lack of sleep and his hair looked like the nest for some forest critter. His dream had pulled him out of slumber for the fourteenth time in two weeks. He’d been on his way to the kitchen for some sleep summoning hot chocolate when the glow had snared him. Duo wasn’t sure if it was a reflection of the fire burning in the hearth on the other side of the room off of something outside or if whatever was outside had an inner glow, but he was mesmerized by it.

Duo came to himself with a start as the kitchen door banged shut, signaling that his father was home from work. Meaning that it was around midnight and he should have been back to bed over an hour ago. Still staring out the window, however, he was able to see the wolf as it turned away from him and headed deeper into the woods. He could see the shimmer along the thick fur on its back as the moon had come out of hiding just then. Duo felt it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Duo wasn’t all that sure how long he had stood there and stared at the wolf out in the newly washed clearing that made up their side yard but he cringed a little thinking of what the consequences could be for being up and about when his father came home. He knew that his being awake wasn’t really the problem so much as ‘why’ he was awake. His dreams were supposed to be gone, and so far Duo had been able to hide their effect on him. He generally put foundation on in the mornings before he left his room, but one didn’t wear make-up to bed - it was bad for your skin. Plus every time in the last two weeks as the dreams had worsened and woken him with a curious pull he had gone out and gotten hot chocolate to help him sleep again and been back in bed before anyone knew he’d been up. If his mother wondered why the chocolate powder was disappearing so quickly, she had yet to mention it. Duo wouldn’t be able to hide from his father tonight however, his room was clear across the living room from where he currently stood and he would still need the hot chocolate to get to sleep.

“Might as well get this over with.” Duo sighed out quietly to himself as he turned from the window and continued on to the kitchen.

“Hey Dad, how was work?” Duo asked as casually as he could upon entering the kitchen and flicking the switch flooding the room with light.

“Duo.” His father’s voice gave him pause however, he didn’t sound so good. Duo lowered the arm he’d had raised to reach for a mug.

“Dad?” Duo looked around quickly and spotted his father heaving on the floor just inside the back door blood slowly pooling under his right leg. “Dad!”

Duo rushed over to his father’s side wide awake, dream and wolf forgotten. “What happened? What should I get? Do you want me to wake Mom?” Seeing the gashes on his father’s leg Duo’s mind instantly linked them to some type of wild predatory cat - Duo bit back a growl at the thought of an animal hurting his father.

“Calm...down Duo, I’ll...be al...right. Wake... your mother.” The downed man groaned out in response to the rapid-fire questions his son threw at him as he tried to catch his breath from the attack.

“Right. I’ll be back.” Duo tore across the living room and down the hallway, past his bedroom and the bathroom and hall closet to his parents’ room. He paused to knock loudly on the door and await a response. He knew his mother didn’t usually go to sleep until after his father got home, but he didn’t want to walk in on her, one never knew exactly what she could be doing. Duo had walked in on her enacting a scene from a book she was writing once; he’d never walked in without knocking since.

“Duo? Is that you?” A voice quavered from beyond the door facing him. Without thinking it over Duo threw the door open, his mother had sounded scared and that wasn’t normal, his mother wasn’t afraid of anything. The door hit the wall with a loud thud and Duo growled deep in his throat when his saw the wolf in his mother’s bedroom, holding her hostage on top of her own bed.

Duo’s mind ran on autopilot: “Dad’s hurt. I think he got bit by a bobcat, maybe only clawed at. The gash wasn’t very big but the marks were deep and narrow, I couldn’t be sure if it was a bite or claw marks. I didn’t get a good enough look at it.” Duo’s voice was calm and resonated through the room with a stillness that relaxed his mother and the wolf facing her. His mother nodded and started to climb off the bed to go to her husband since it was obvious Duo didn’t know what needed to be done - she stopped when the wolf growled at her softly.

“It’s alright. I need you to let my mom take care of my dad, okay?” Duo addressed the wolf between him and his mother. The large golden head turned in his direction meeting his eyes, letting him know that it understood, but then it turned its gaze toward the glass door opening on to their back porch.

Duo seemed to take the motion as a cue and looked outside as well. When he saw the golden glow of many eyes reflecting the light from the room he growled again, and going on instinct alone Duo marched to the open door and yelled at the wild cats prowling around his home. “Get out of here! You’ve done enough damage for one night. LEAVE!” The power in his voice sent them all scattering.

The golden wolf walked out the door brushing past Duo as he continued to stare out into the night. At her passing Duo looked down at her as she turned her head and seemed to nod at him in approval before she ran off into the tree-line, going the same direction as the wolf he’d seen just a little bit ago.

“Duo?” His mother’s voice now sounded terrified.

Duo blinked and flinched slightly, “Yeah Mom?” He turned around to face her; curious as to why she was more frightened now than she had been of the wolf before.

“What did you do?” She asked him warily, still kneeling on her mattress.

“I.” Duo’s face clearly stated his confusion. He was pretty sure that his accepting a wolf’s presence as protective and yelling at a bunch of predatory cats was kind of obvious, so he wasn’t exactly sure what his mother was asking him. Duo’s face was screwed up into a concerned yet confused looked, one eyebrow raised. “I don’t know?”

There came a muffled thump from the direction of the kitchen, jump starting Duo’s brain to another tract.

“Mom, Dad’s still hurt. He told me to wake you...” Duo trailed off as his mother fled the room without him finishing his explanation. He heard the banging of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and the slamming of the hall closet, then his mother’s feet pounding through the living room. Duo decided he would be better off just going to his own room and waiting to see what happened next. He knew he wouldn’t be getting any sleep for the rest of the night and he wanted to be ready if his parents needed his help and be prepared for the eventuality of when they wanted to talk to him about whatever it was he’d just done.

First Duo closed and locked the glass door to his parents’ room, then closed their door to the hallway when he went through it and headed down the hall to his own door. Passing the open archway to the living room he glanced over and saw his father sitting at the kitchen table with his foot in a bucket, his pant leg pulled up above his knee. The sink was running so Duo guessed that his mother was in front of it as he couldn’t see her. He continued on to his room and went inside. Within the shelter of his haven he changed from his pajama pants to work jeans and pulled out a t-shirt which he slid over his head. He grabbed up his hairbrush and taking the thong off the end of his overly mussed braid he brushed it out and re-braided it. He pulled the foundation out of his top drawer and covered the effects of a sleeplessness that he was afraid was finally messing with his brain, /Talking to animals again Duo?/ He chided himself with a shake of his head.

Looking in the mirror after putting the foundation back in his drawer Duo could concede that he was an odd looking seventeen year old; he had thick chestnut brown hair that hung to his rear when braided and slightly lower when not confined, large purple eyes with thick black lashes, his eyebrows were the same color as his braid and so was the hair on the rest of his body, he couldn’t grow a mustache or beard, though he’d tried. He was about five-eleven and wore a size fifteen shoe, his skin was a light tan shade that simply darkened with too much sun. Duo smirked at himself - he never really got sunburned, which wasn’t really natural for either parentage, but he liked it that way since he loved the sun so much. He’d rather not have to deal with burned and peeling skin.

Neither of Duo’s parents were U.S. citizens, but he was - he’d had the ‘privilege’ of being born on American soil. His father was Russian and his mother was Welsh - this explained his unusual coloring a bit. Neither of his parents were trying to become American citizens at all - it wasn’t something that they wanted. They enjoyed being permanent residences of the U.S.A. but Duo had dual citizenship with Russia. He wanted to obtain citizenship with Wales as well when he turned eighteen but he didn’t know if he’d be able to or not. 

The Maxwell’s had moved from L.A. to a small town in Northern Connecticut when Duo’s dreams had “ended” when he was fifteen. His father, Solo, had finally landed his dream job and his mother, Sara, was already a widely published author and could afford to quit her job as an editor for LA Publishing. So they moved to the backwoods of Hartland and his father became a Ranger. A love of nature seemed to be hereditary, Duo’s Dedushka on his father’s side was a forester and his Babushka was an herbalist. On his mother’s side his Nain was a botanist and his Taid a farmer. His mother’s books were mostly either about different plants and what they could be used for, or had them mentioned in an obviously knowledgeable way when they were used in her fictitious writings. Even the plants she made up could have been real for the way she explained them. Duo himself had always found peace only when surrounded by nature: going to parks or sitting in the tree on the sidewalk in front of their apartment complex in L.A. in order to get away from human contact. People tended to annoy him rather easily - hiding out was something - besides his brains - that separated him from anyone his own age. Duo was kind of a brainiac; he’d graduated high school at fourteen and had worked a desk job at a law firm before they moved. He had wanted to start college as soon as he graduated, but nowhere would accept him so young, so he’d gotten the job in order to have something to do. However, when they’d moved to Connecticut Duo had had to quit and there wasn’t anything for him to do out here except take walks in the woods, hang out at the lake he’d found or sit and read in the clearing he always had a hard time finding, but was SO worth the search. The spot was truly beautiful with flowers on one side, giant White Oak trees surrounding it and the grass thick and perfect for napping on.

Duo was currently taking college courses over the internet, since he was finally old enough to apply. He was working on a BA in Business with a focus on Agricultural Law and Management, though he wasn’t really sure exactly what he wanted to do with it yet. But it certainly couldn’t hurt and the subject matter was interesting. Occasionally he’d take his laptop out to the clearing or the lake and work on homework he didn’t need the internet for or he’d work on short stories or editing his mom’s newest work. He was pretty good at editing and enjoyed it immensely.

Hearing his parents begin talking in the other room - the stillness of the house not stopping sound no matter the distance, Duo decided to turn on his computer and play some music while he got some homework done so that he couldn’t overhear them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedushka = Grandfather, Babushka = Grandmother (Russian)  
> Taid = Grandfather, Nain = Grandmother (Welsh)


	2. Caught in the Act

Having rushed from the bedroom and grabbed the med-kit from the bathroom and a bucket from the hall closet Sara had found her husband laying on the kitchen floor a trail of blood leading from the back door to where he now lay near the table. “Solo! What happened?”

“I tried to reach the table. But my leg is numb and it wouldn’t hold my weight long enough for me to actually get there.” He grimaced as pain laced up his leg.

Sara smiled softly at him and shook her head. “You dumbo, crawling would have hurt less. Just let me get this stuff organized and I’ll help you to a chair.” She went to the sink placing the bucket under the faucet to fill it with warm water and set out all of the supplies she would need from the med-kit on the kitchen table. Turning off the steaming stream of water and grabbing the bucket from the sink she placed it on the floor by the table and helped her husband to sit in a chair. Sara took off his bloody boot and sock and rolled his pant leg up out of the way so she could clearly see the wound. It was a nasty bit of work - his pant leg and sock had stuck to it in places and Solo was rather blue in the face by the time she pulled the bucket over and placed his foot in the now cooler than boiling water.

Solo hissed as the water washed over the wound, the heat making him grimace. He was lucky that the majority of it was low on his shin and that his wife didn’t have to scrub at it with a wash cloth. The matted blood could simply soak off.

While Solo’s leg soaked the blonde woman grabbed the mop bucket and filled it in order to clean the blood and mud off of her kitchen floor. With the water running neither of them heard Duo when he went to his room.

“So what happened out there tonight?” Sara questioned as she mopped up the floor.

Solo sighed and winced in pain as his leg twitched involuntarily, “It was pretty routine until about an hour ago. Went up to High Point to check the campground and there was a black bear chowing down on somebody’s fruit stash. Took care of that pretty easily and fined the campers for not properly putting their food away. They weren’t happy about that one.” Solo grinned ruefully. “On the way back to check in at the station I got pounced on by a damn bobcat. What the heck it was doing in a well-traveled area I’ll never understand.” He shook his head and winced as he moved his leg in the bucket as he got more comfortable in his seat.

“Wait, so why didn’t you get this taken care of at the station?” Sara paused in rinsing out the mop and its bucket.

“I didn’t get hurt by that one. It pounced on me, but then scurried away when I yelled, didn’t even have any holes poked in my clothes from it. There was a big group of them just outside our house when I finally got home. I saw them around the corner of the house and booked it to the closest door as fast as I could, hoping to make it in before they noticed me. Obviously that didn’t work out as planned.” Solo gave a forlorn look to his leg.

“Mmmm. About that... You know how I told you that I was sure Duo was lying about the dreams being over?” Sara started.

Solo looked up at her a bit confused as to what that had to do with a pride of bobcats, “Yeah?”

“Now I’m certain of it.” Sara’s nod was firm as she turned back to rinsing out the bucket.

“Why? Because we have bobcats outside or because he looked a little sleep deprived?” Solo was a bit skeptic. When Sara had told him that the chocolate powder was going rather quickly the last week or so he’d claimed it was because he’d been drinking it. But he knew that chocolate was the one thing that always put their son to sleep. He hadn’t been home enough to talk to Duo about it though.

“No, because of what he just did. He inherited the gift.” Sara’s voice was quiet in the sudden silence after she turned the water off.

Solo sat silent for a long moment; shock, rage, fear and then the acceptance of the inevitable coursing through him. “What did he do?”

“Well he knocked on the door, even in such a hurry as he probably was knowing you were bleeding all over the floor, and when I asked if it was him he didn’t answer me like normal, just threw the door open. I think he probably heard the fear in my voice-.” Sara started.

“Fear in your voice? You were scared? Of what?” Solo didn’t know of anything that could scare his wife. Hell he was scared of more things than she was.

“The giant golden wolf standing at the foot of my bed staring me down, growling every time I moved.” She deadpanned as she put the mop and bucket away.

“WHAT?” Solo’s shock was now complete. “There are no wolves in Connecticut.”

“Tell that to the one I just saw.” Sara was indignant her cornflower blue eyes narrowed at the man before her. “You gonna let me finish or not?”

Solo flinched at her tone and wisely kept silent.

“That’s better.” Sara came around the table her fists on her hips. “Now where was I? Right, Duo threw the door open hard enough to bounce off the wall a little and he growled when his eyes landed on the wolf.”

“Growled?” Solo interrupted again, his eyebrows furrowed in a perturbed expression.

“Yes growled, like he was a wolf himself and angry about his territory being invaded. It was rather disturbing. But for all of that he just started talking. Like he hadn’t been panicked a few seconds before and that the wolf wasn’t going to hurt anything or anyone. He honestly acted like the animal wasn’t even there! He told me that you were wounded and that it was probably done by a bobcat, but he hadn’t been able to tell if it was a bite or claw marks. His voice was so calm and reassuring that ‘I’ forgot the wolf was there and went to climb off the bed and come to you. But as I moved the wolf growled at me again. And Duo turns to it and tells it that he needs it to let me come and tend to you, as if the creature could understand him!” Sara punctuated each emphatic remark with a gesture of hand or a stomp of her foot. “Then the wolf finally looked away from me, just turned its head to look at Duo and then out the open porch door. Duo turned his own head and looked outside. A second later he was at the door yelling at that pack of bobcats that they’d done enough and needed to get lost. They scattered like he was God and they were the Egyptians that enslaved the Jews! Then that giant wolf walks past him out the door, turns and ‘nods’ at him before taking off into the trees.” Sara threw herself into a chair exasperated by her son’s antics. “Then when I asked him what he’d done, he was lost. He honestly didn’t know what I was asking. Like talking to animals and having them listen to you is normal!”

Solo couldn’t help it, as concerned as he was he had to laugh. His wife was adorable when she was frustrated.

“And just what is so funny mister?” The evil gleam in his wife’s eyes gave him only momentary pause in his continued laughter.

“Do you honestly expect him to understand what he did Sara? Duo doesn’t know the legends, never understood why we never talk about our family histories. Honestly I’d be surprised if he hadn’t gotten the gift since both of our families were cursed with it.” Solo commented once his laughter subsided.

Sara was too busy glaring at him and thinking of inventive ways to shank him to be appeased into a topic change just yet; all she did was raise her eyebrow at him in a contemptuous way.

“Oh come on Sare! You all in a huff over something that didn’t get anyone hurt. Stomping your foot like a child who didn’t get their way. That’s some funny stuff.” Solo grinned at his rather irate wife.

Sara cracked a grin as the image settled into her mind’s eye. “Maybe. But what are we going to do about Duo?”

“Well first things first. Let’s get my leg bandaged and then bring him out here. I’m sure he’s not asleep after all of this.” Solo sighed gustily.

Nodding her head his wife gently grabbed his foot out of the bloody water, wrapping it in a clean towel. She stood up and dumped the bucket down the sink, rinsed and refilled it, setting it down in front of Solo again he put his foot back in it and swished off the remaining blood. Sara handed him another towel to dry off with as she grabbed up the antiseptic and bandages.

“Nothing looks deep enough to need stitching thank goodness.” Sara noted as she applied the cream.

Solo hissed in a breath, “I guess that’s a bonus.”

After Solo’s leg was bandaged and the med-kit and bucket were cleaned and repacked, Sara put them away and knocked on Duo’s door.

“Yeah Mom?” Duo called from behind the closed door.

“How’d you know it was me?” His mom asked as she opened the door.

Duo turned to look at her with a lopsided grin as the door opened. “You knock softer than dad does.”

“Ah. Well we’d like to talk to you in the kitchen please.” Sara told him.

“Sure thing. Just let me finish up this problem and I’ll be right there.” Duo answered, turning back to his computer and the math equation he was currently doing.

Sara nodded and left, leaving the door standing wide open.

Duo rolled his eyes, “I hate it when she does that.” He finished up with the problem and turned his computer off. Heading across the living room to the kitchen he added more wood to the fire as it was almost out and couldn’t resist looking out the window to where he’d seen the first wolf. Seeing nothing there broke the spell of anticipation and he ambled off into the kitchen.

“Hey Mom, do you do that on purpose? To remind me that I said I would do something? Or do you just not know how to close a door?” Duo quipped looking curiously to his mother who was currently making hot tea.

“Are you sassing your mother boy?” His father enquired of him.

“No sir, just curious. Though I’m kind of afraid to know why the porch door in your guys’ room was standing open after midnight.” Duo remarked warily as he sat at the table.

“I was wondering about that myself actually.” Solo turned to look at his wife. “Sara, how’d that ‘wolf’ get in the room anyway?” The stress on the word wolf making it apparent that he didn’t believe that’s what it was. Sara stiffened and kept her back to them as she put sugar in their cups.

The tone of his father’s voice gave Duo a shock. “Dad, when has Mom EVER lied?”

Startled from staring holes in his wife’s back by his son’s question Solo stopped to actually think it through – his head tilted to the side, thick brown hair falling against his cheek. “When she said you were going to be a girl.”

Duo grinned, “That’s all you’re going on old man? She made that “guess” more because she wanted a girl than because she actually knew. You still didn’t believe she was pregnant yet from what Babu says.”

“Are you trying to tell me there was a wolf in there, son?” Solo asked in a low voice that brought to mind torture and those that thrill in it.

“Yes, I am.” Duo stated, “Because there was. She was bigger than any wolf I’ve ever heard of though. And golden in color, you don’t see many like that. The one I’d apparently been having a staring contest with just before you got home was a deep brown color, its coat seemed to shimmer when the moonlight hit it as it walked away.”

This statement along with the obvious awe in his voice gave both of his parents pause. And when he didn’t get an immediate response from either Duo realized that mentioning the other wolf just now was probably a bad idea.

“Is that why you looked so tired? Having a stare down with a giant predator late into the night!? How long has this been going on?” Duo’s father was livid. If he’d been able to do so without hurting himself more he probably would have shot up from the table, marched around it and boxed Duo’s ears. As it was Duo was currently thanking whatever bobcat had gotten his dad – he was far too tired to attempt to make a break for it.

“No, Dad, it’s not like that. This is/was the first time I’d ever seen it!” Duo decided he should probably come clean about the dreams, since they both knew how tired he was for no real reason but his mother saved him from continuing.

“You asked me why the door was open.” Sara reminded them curtly as she placed everyone’s tea in front of them.

Solo simply nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment, rage burning in his deep blue/red eyes.

“Well the door was open because I’d been out on the porch reading. I’d gone in to go to the bathroom and when I came out that wolf was standing there in the open doorway. She?” Here Sara looked at her son, she didn’t know how he knew the gender of the animal, but he was usually right about that kind of stuff. At his nod she continued. “She was just standing there, like she was waiting for something to happen. I thought about going back in the bathroom and locking the door, but she shook her head at me.” Here she turned bewildered eyes on her family, not sure if she was going crazy or not. “So I walked over to the bed, since there’s a knife there in case of an emergency. As I got to the bedside I noticed that she had walked over, scared me so bad I jumped up on the bed, but she didn’t do anything except stand there. However, after I got up there she wouldn’t let me get off, kept growling every time I tried to get down. It was like that for a couple of hours, I was honestly too annoyed and scared to even think about screaming. And I already told you what happened when Duo got there.” She finished off sitting down at the circular table across from Duo, next to her husband.

“Well I guess the only unexplainable things about tonight are what the heck is up with the bobcats and why the hell are there wolves in Connecticut!” Solo ground out in frustration his hands tossed into the air above his shaggy head.

“Yeah, definitely can’t answer either of those questions Dad.” Duo began, “What I’d like to know is how come all of these different animals listen to me?”

Duo had thought about that as he was working on his math homework: why on earth would wild animals listen to a human - let alone do as a human says without any training, as if they spoke the same way humans do and understood what was being said to them. Duo didn’t get it. His dreams generally had stuff like that in them - the only reason he’d learned to control them was because of that voice in the back of his mind, the one he’d felt that wolf could help him understand. Though he was still confused by that prospect as well, how could a wolf possibly help with that?

At one point when he was fourteen, shortly after high school graduation, his dream hadn’t been about talking animals or crazy cultists or anyone he knew or didn’t know dying. It had been him, sitting in a clearing covered in snow and a voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time telling him that he needed control. That if he didn’t start learning to stop the killings in his dreams, that those deaths would become real. So it told him what to do, how to put a certain ‘force’ into his voice that would make what he wanted to happen, happen. Since then that voice had been hovering at the fringes of his senses and he’d stopped watching people die in his sleep. That is, until two weeks ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Babu = Grandma (Russian)


	3. Cursed with a Gift

That was the real question, ‘why did animals listen to him?’ He’d been asking himself that question for as long as he could remember. In the city it hadn’t been as bad as it was out here in the forest, not as much wildlife around. But the birds in the city had always seemed to be listening to him when he complained about one thing or another, and once a Cardinal had actually fixed a problem for him. His hair had gotten caught in the bark of a pine tree while he was getting out of it - he couldn’t yank it out or climb back up to assess the damage because of the angle he landed in after slipping. The tree’s hold on his hair had been a definite. It certainly taught him not to climb out of trees with his back to the trunk. He’d started crying in frustration over it after a couple of hours - he’d been about 10 at the time and there was no one around, the park devoid of human life. A Cardinal had flown over and picked his hair out of the tree very carefully with its feet. It took the bird twenty minutes and the only reason Duo ever knew that the bird was there was because he was able to turn his head once his hair started coming loose - he’d looked up to find out why. He’d thanked it once his hair was free, and it had nodded at him and flown away. It had struck him as strange then, but thinking about it now he was sure there had to be more to it than simply a really nifty bird.

Looking at his parents he felt his heart sink seeing the downcast and withdrawn looks on their faces after his question - what could they be hiding? “Is there something wrong with me?” Duo was kind of afraid of the answer.

“No. No there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with you.” His mother was quick to reassure him. “You just have something... extra.”

“Extra?” Was that seriously all he was gonna get as an explanation? The pause stretched on until he was about to demand a better answer.

“You once asked why Taid wouldn’t allow you near the animal pens on his farm.” His father injected.

“Yeah?” Duo could vaguely remember being immensely disappointed that he wasn’t allowed near the animals. He loved animals; they tended to calm him down. Like they understood him somehow, in a way that no one and nothing else could.

“He’d had a few older ones that he wasn’t ready to part with yet.” Solo paused not entirely sure how to go on from there.

/What?/ “What the heck does that have to do with me? It’s not like I would’ve killed them, I love animals!” Duo was starting to get angry at the half-assed way they were attempting to tell him something.

Solo let out a long breath, “Your ability. You have an affinity with animals because they KNOW what you are. They trust you with their lives. Explicitly and without question, their souls aren’t as complicated as humans. So, the older they are the more willing they are to simply follow you around. Forget their function and simply BE. They would have laid down and died the moment you were out of their sight. And you could have been sucked into the world of death far sooner than your capability to take care of such situations would have been able to handle.”

Duo was more confused than ever now. /World of death?/

“We had hoped that you wouldn’t inherit the gift. That the entity would bypass you and go to one of the family members that train all of their children to take on the job.” His mother added. “We moved to America to be normal.”

“What job?” Duo asked.

“The job of the Shinigami. A spirit that helps to guide the spirits of the dead to the afterlife.” His father stated this like it was some kind of disease.

“But I’m alive... I’m not a spirit?” Seeing his mother affirm that he wasn’t a spirit Duo sat back in his chair trying to make sense of how that was supposed to work when it hit him like a brick. “The voice.” It slipped out on his exhale and suddenly he had his parents’ undivided attention.

“What voice? And how long have you been hearing it?!” Sara’s voice pitched into high octaves at the end and she was leaning over the table toward him, her chair knocked to the floor.

Duo flinched back, frightened of his own mother for the first time in his life. His dad was about as stunned as he was and to defuse the situation he teased her, “Back to being huffy about something that hasn’t hurt anyone again Love?”

Sara shot him a glare but her rage calmed at seeing his smirking face, recalling her earlier tantrum.

Once his wife was seated again Solo looked to his son, fully expecting him to answer his mother’s angry questions.

Duo looked from one parent to the other and then down at his hands folded tightly on the table top. “Actually I’ve only heard the voice once. Generally it’s something I simply sense in the back of my mind.” He mumbled without looking at them.

“What happened the one time you heard it?” His mother was no longer angry, but now concern laced her tone, Duo wasn’t sure which one he preferred.

“Look, usually I would dream about wild animals killing you guys or my friends, crazy cultists doing things I’d rather not hear tell of, yet I was forced to SEE. I didn’t even know what a cultist WAS when they first started appearing. I guess animals killing people made sense to me so I didn’t really think too much about it, but when people started doing crazy things I told you guys about the dreams.” The indignant fear in his parents’ eyes when he looked up at them had him shake his head in disgust. “Did psycho not tell you or did you just never ask?” Duo’s voice was hard, he knew his parents loved him, but sometimes their type of love just wasn’t what he needed.

“I...We...” His dad tried to find the words but failed and looked down at his mug of tea in defeat.

That said everything Duo needed to know, his parents made him go see a shrink and then didn’t bother to see how he was doing there. “I told you the dreams were over when I learned to control them.” Duo offered to the silent kitchen a few seconds later.

“So they’re not over. I knew it!” His mother crowed in triumph. Duo snorted - he couldn’t believe the audacity.

Shaking his head at his wife Solo asked, “What do you mean when you say you learned to control them?”

Duo smiled wickedly, “That’s where the voice comes in. Shortly after High School graduation I had a dream that had no animals or killings or anything “normal”,” He air quoted the word. “I was sitting in a clearing covered in snow; there weren’t even footprints to show how I’d gotten there. There was a voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, it wasn’t loud or commanding, just there. You know a sound you just listen to, like you don’t have a choice because it’s something you WANT to hear. It told me that I needed control. That if I didn’t start learning to stop what went on in my dreams, that they would start happening for real. Scared, I’d questioned how I was supposed to do that. That it seemed like an impossible task. The voice told me how to put a ‘force’ behind what I wanted to happen, nothing like yelling or being mean but a calm kind of... understanding I guess is a good word for it. That if I focused on what I truly wanted to happen then it would happen. I hadn’t seen anything die since. Until two weeks ago.” Duo winced, waiting for the explosions that were sure to be his parents.

Sara and Solo sat in silence for a long time, so long that Duo had begun to fidget. Suddenly stilling Duo surprised himself realizing something that he hadn’t thought of before, it hadn’t been important before.

“If you all thought or at least were hoping that I didn’t have this Shinigami thing, then how come I wasn’t allowed near the animals on Taid’s farm?” Duo was leaning toward his parents across the table from him.

Sara jerked herself out of her contemplation at her son’s voice breaking the quiet. “I’m not really sure Sweetie. Tad just said it would be a bad idea.” She blinked owlishly turning to Solo. Duo let the endearment go; it only meant that his mother was massively distracted she hated saying stuff like that because her dad always used them when he was trying to get something or put her down without upsetting her.

Looking up from his study of the floor, knowing that his wife was looking at him Solo answered the silent question. “Because they knew. They had’t’ve. There’s no way- I should have seen this sooner! They never reacted like that with the other kids; it should’ve been a dead giveaway! Why didn’t they TELL us! We could have helped him through it better, would have been able to know WHY he was having dreams like that. Damn it!” Half way through his tirade he’d switched into Russian a sure sign that Solo was well and truly angry.

Another thought occurred to Duo, “That wolf, the brown one I told you about.”

Solo paused in his angry litany and looked over at him, his mother’s gaze falling to his as he started his newest response to a question he’d thought himself unable to answer.

“He... I came out of my room having woken up from my dream for the fourteenth day in a row and was walking across the living room to get a mug of hot chocolate.” Here his mother sent a sharp ‘we’ll talk later’ look to his father that Duo missed seeing as he was staring at the table top. “But as I was crossing the living room a shine from outside the window caught my eye, I walked closer to the window trying to figure out what it was. I must have stood there for a really long time; I was pretty entranced with it. I tried to look away a couple of times to maybe get a better angle on it and finally figure it out. It seemed to blink, and I wasn’t sure if it was something reflecting the fire or something outside that glowed itself. But I’d come out here at like ten or so and you generally don’t get home until midnight. I think it had me stand there so that I wouldn’t be asleep when you got home. Like it knew what was going on, that you would need help. The fact that the other wolf seemed to be guarding mom, making sure she couldn’t do anything and that the cats couldn’t get to her.” Duo paused uncertain, “I sound like a lunatic.”

His mother smiled softly at him, “No, actually I think you might have a point.”

“So now all we’re left with is the puzzle of what’s up with the local bobcats.” His father stated sitting heavily into his chair again.

“Yeah.” Sara sighed and got up to get herself some more tea.

Duo finished his now cold tea and sat staring at his cup for a few minutes before getting up, rinsing it out and grabbing the makings for hot chocolate. Once he had a steaming cup and was seated again he mused aloud about the recurring dream that had woken him up for the last two weeks.

“My dream. It’s been about a fire. Some people go out for some ritual in the middle of the woods and it gets out of hand and starts a forest fire. There are a lot of animals dying in it. Do you think maybe there is an actual fire where the bobcats usually reside and that maybe they came here to find help?” Now Duo KNEW he sounded insane.

But his parents looked thoughtful as he sleepily rose from his chair, rinsed out his mug and went to bed. No goodnight came from him, but they knew that with chocolate in his system they were lucky he’d managed not to fall asleep at the table. Looking after their son as he left they smiled knowing that he probably wouldn’t wake up until noon having had chocolate at four A.M.

Sara’s smile faded however as she pinned her husband with a glare that could kill. “You said YOU were the one drinking the chocolate so fast.”

Solo flinched, “I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about it. I haven’t exactly been home a lot the last few weeks. Honestly though, chocolate helps Duo sleep, not me. I thought you’d see through it and talk to him yourself before I ever got the chance.”

He had her there - she should have seen through it. But she’d wanted so badly to believe that Duo was perfectly fine, even though she could tell he was wearing makeup. However she was determined to only be concerned about it when he started to wear eyeliner and mascara, she’d have to ask him about it at least if he started doing that. She was pretty sure that her son was gay, but she didn’t want him to think he needed to be girly because of it. Now she knew he was wearing foundation to cover how worn out he was. Honestly she was pretty sure the real reason was worse.

“You’re right I should have. But you could have told me the truth, or at least what you suspected and I could have asked him. I mean you obviously thought it was something to do with being a guy so that’s probably why you didn’t, but still.” She berated Solo.

“You’re probably right. But it’s after four in the morning and I need painkiller and we both need sleep.” Solo said calmly, he’d temporarily forgotten about his leg in his rage and concern for his son. But it was making itself known rather loudly now.

Sara smiled fondly at him, “You go on into the bedroom and I’ll clean up and grab the painkillers.”

Solo smiled at her. “Sure thing, though I may need your help getting these off.” He said motioning to his jeans.

“I’ll probably be there before you at the rate you’re moving. Still sitting there like a bump on a log.” Sara teased him.

Solo grinned and got up to shamble off to their room, knowing that his wife was no longer angry with him. Pausing at Duo’s door he peaked in and saw his son had managed to get into pajamas before he passed out. Chuckling to himself he closed the door and made his way into his own room and sat on the bed. He’d only gotten his other boot off by the time Sara entered with painkiller and a glass of water.

“Duo made it into pj’s.” Solo told her as he took the offered painkillers and water.

Sara smiled, “Did he really? Will wonders never cease?” She asked as he took the medicine.

Placing the glass on the bedside table Solo peeled his shirt off over his head and threw it at the hamper.

“Well stand up big guy.” Sara was all business as Solo stood and she de-jeaned him and helped him into a pair of flannel pants. Once they were settled in the bed they fell quickly into sleep.


	4. Vucari

The Barton and Bloom families were called into a meeting at the Sacred Grove of Azov by Porewit, the god of the woods who protects lost travelers and punishes those who mistreat the forest. It was part of their calling as Vucari - to heed the whims of the gods of land, air and sea – the gods that protected them, in turn for that protection sometimes the gods needed their help. Once the families were assembled the god showed himself as a face in the bark of the tree in the very center of the clearing, “Would the young Trowa Barton please come before me.”

The young man was nervous but at a nod from his father he stepped forward and strode out to stand before the old Zelkova serrata tree. “There is something I need you to do for me boy. And only you are capable of doing it. You can tell me that you don’t want to; there will not be any repercussions against you.” The young Trowa nodded, waiting for the god to ask of him what he wanted.

“There is a boy, his heritage is both Welsh and Russian... but the boy is very much an American. Whether you do this task or not by next year you will feel pulled to him for he is your mate.” The whole of the Barton/Bloom clan jumped at that news, how could a male be his mate? “Currently he is on the cusp of manhood, a year younger than yourself, but because of /what/ he is...If he cannot be helped or controlled in some way the gods will be forced to lay him to rest.”

“You would have to kill him?” The young Trowa’s voice was barely controlled from squeaking, he was slightly amazed at how much the idea of this unknown man being harmed hurt him. “What is he?”

Comfort radiated out from the tree in front of him and he realized that the god knew that the information had actually hurt him. Porewit was trying to sooth him after punching him in the gut before telling him his task and why this boy was so important. Though by now Trowa the younger had a good idea about what his task was going to be, to help this boy – his mate – with whatever it was that was problematic. “He is a Shinigami.”

There was a hushed silence through the grove, young Trowa’s mother Amber wrapped her arms around herself as her eyes widened. “That means... that he has two Shinigami spirits within himself.” She muttered under her breath, everyone knew the legend about how those of two spirits were destined for each other.

“Yes, it does.” Porewit reconnoitered, everyone had heard her in the silence after all. “Young Maxwell has both Veles and Arawn. He’d almost had three of them, but Osiris decided to bother someone else.” Porewit paused to let the significance of that sink in. It wasn’t every day that a child was ‘blessed’ with a single god’s attention, let alone more than one. The young Trowa had two of them as well, both Gods of Silence, much as this boy had two Gods of the Underworld.

“Is that how he’s my mate? Because we both have the powers of two gods?” The young Trowa was curious, he knew there was a legend about it, his mother and father had told him about it when he was old enough to understand why he was so different from everyone else. But it hadn’t really made a lot of sense.

The legend spoke of a man with long hair who was benevolent and kind, who resided in a hall of light and laughter and presided over the souls of the dead. He was merry and kept the souls from despair, but he was lonely, and the souls feared that he would fall into despair himself. So the souls had taken it upon themselves to fashion him a companion. The legend was never very clear on who or what this companion was, simply that the companion was quiet and calm – someone for the long haired man to talk to about things other than the dead and the living and what should or shouldn’t happen to them. In some versions of the legend the companion was the long haired man’s lover, a female with caramel colored hair that hung to her feet, and in others this companion was simply a friend - a man that was steadfast and loyal, his green eyes full of knowledge. And still others it was simply never clear what the relationship truly was and all you got out of it was that the long haired man was thankful for this companion because they kept him sane. Stopped him from making bad decisions in regards to how the souls should be cared for. What they all had in common however was that the companion was fashioned of two “Companion” spirits in order to coincide with the two “Shinigami” spirits that connected the long haired man to the realm of death.

Thinking about it all now the young man was a bit shaken as the possibilities of what his task could be grew, “What is it that you want me to do?” His voice was solid even though he was sure Porewit could feel his trepidation.

“The young Maxwell does not know what he is. He knows that he is different but not to what extents. His parents will be learning of this soon enough. Their families have been ‘blessed’ by Veles and Arawn for ages because of their strength and validation, but they also have not known that what was ‘wrong’ with their son is this gift. Because their families have not told them that their son having them is even a possibility. A wrong that /must/ be set right. They will know what to tell him, and how to help him adjust. What I need from you Triton Bloom,” Triton straightened his shoulders and his mother jerked a step forward as the god called him by his ‘True Name’ - something only he and his mother had known until that moment, “Is to be his companion. You will be one who understands what it is like to have two spirits guiding you and how hard it is to control the abilities they give you. But, as his mate you will be able to sense him: if he is confused, hurt or scared. And he will feel the same for you. His parents will not understand what him having /two/ spirits entails; they will only be able to help him learn his duties as a Shinigami.”

Triton nodded his head, he understood and he accepted the responsibility. “I will try.”

“When he is ready you will both be brought before a council to decide what is to be done.” Porewit faded away silently as his vague threat settled into their minds.

Suddenly Flidais’s voice filtered out across the grove to them all, “You may step back young Trowa.”

His head jerking up to a higher point on the tree Triton smiled and stepped back into the ring of his family, standing next to his sister Catherine.

“Trowa Barton, come forward.” The flowery voice of the goddess of forests, woodlands, wild things, wild beasts and shape-shifting – their patron god - floated on the air. Amber watched as her husband walked out to the point her only son had just been, she was hoping that now they would get to why the whole family had been called to the grove.

“Patience Amberella della Bloom.” There was laughter in the goddess’s voice but Amber flinched slightly bowing her head to the tree in apology. “Please come forward and join your mate.” Once Amber was standing beside Trowa Flidais began, “You have all been called here because the heads of your joined families, Trowa Barton and Amber Bloom must leave Russia.” There was a gasp that ran across the gathered family members.

Triton’s grandfather took a few steps forward, “Where must they go?”

It was unheard of for a Vucari to leave the area. New environments triggered their change just because they were different. They had to have complete control over themselves in order to simply leave for distant parts of Russia or to go over to Kazakhstan, Georgia, Ukraine or Belarus. Most people didn’t take well to the person they were talking to suddenly turning into a giant wolf for no apparent reason. A calm air flitted about them all and they knew that it would not be forever, and the meeting was to tell them as well as decide who would take over as the heads of the clans while Trowa and Amber were gone. “They must take their children to America, to the state of Connecticut where they will find the Maxwell’s. To that end I need a male and female from each of your clans to come forward and take up the mantle of head while they are gone. And yes Catherine, you must go as well.”

Triton cut his eyes to his older sister and saw the look of shock on her face before she hid it; he knew she hated it when the gods read her mind. “But why?” She’d been planning on finding a way there anyway; she wanted to study Theater and Dance at USF.

“Because Trinity College in Connecticut will be a much better option than the University of South Florida, there is less risk of them finding out you are a Vucari there.” More than one disembodied voice admonished her.

Catherine ducked her head; she hadn’t told anyone that she wanted to leave the country for school. And now she was going to have to deal with the repercussions from the god’s rebuke with her family when this meeting was over.

Trition’s grandparents from both sides stepped forward to take back the mantles they’d given to their children. As the process was gone through Mariemaia turned her gaze to look up at her adoptive siblings, her cousins, thinking about how her mother and father would have been given this rite if they hadn’t died two years before. She’d always liked her cousin’s so becoming their little sister was easy; they’d always treated her like she was anyway. As the rite was finished Flidais spoke to them all again, “May light and laughter guide your way.”

The meeting was officially over. Most of the family members left after that but Triton’s little family stayed back for a bit. The calm sereneness of the grove would be a much better place to find out why Catherine had not told them of her plans to leave than their crowded house.

“So, why didn’t you tell us you wanted to study in America?” Trowa asked of his eldest daughter.

Catherine bowed her head and reached for Triton’s hand, as she always had when she was nervous. “I wasn’t going to tell anyone. I was just gonna go.”

Triton tightened his grip on her hand, “We would have gone after you. So why bother?”

Amber held Mariemaia as they watched Catherine blush, Trowa turned away in frustration, “That boy is going there isn’t he?”

Triton flinched at his father’s tone; he’d helped his sister sneak out several times to meet Nikol, knowing that the man truly loved his sister and that she was falling for him hard. He wasn’t quite ready to say that she loved the man back (and neither was she), but she was getting there. He however was not Vucari, which honestly was really the only problem. However if the two of them could prove that they truly loved each other Nikol could be told, because knowing wouldn’t send him running by that point. It was a pretty precarious line to walk, but they were circus nomads, walking lines wasn’t generally a problem for them. And Nikol was a talented actor and even more talented dancer, so Triton figured he’d be just fine as well.

Trowa shook his head but only sighed and said no more about it. “Let’s get home and pack.”

A month later the Barton family was moved into a ranch house in Hartland, CT. While Amber, Triton, Mariemaia and Catherine were coming back from grocery shopping they sensed a hoard of bobcats zeroing in on one of the homes down the road from their own. Amber took charge telling Catherine to head home as fast as she could to tell her father and call someone about it, Mariemaia was to stay with the truck and make sure nothing happened to the groceries and Triton was with her.

Amber took one side of the house, seeing an open glass door she rushed to it, planning on making sure that none of the cats got into the house. She wasn’t planning however on a woman coming out of the door further in the room and seeing her. The blonde woman’s dark grey-blue eyes widened in fear and she moved as if to go back into the bathroom, Amber shook her head at her, she wanted the woman to come and close the door – but of course her being a wolf made that a little hard to understand. But when the woman moved forward toward the bed, Amber sensed danger to herself in the movement so she walked over to the bed to find out why. The blonde woman jumped squeaking as she noticed that Amber was now next to her bed, she scrambled onto the bed and moved as far away from Amber as she could get. After a minute she attempted to get at whatever it was that was sending Amber’s danger sense’s off and the wolf growled at her. They stayed at a stalemate for quite some time...

Triton had taken the other side of the house, he’d been attempting to sniff out where the bobcats were heading, but the flickering light through the panoramic window to his right caught his eye. Looking through the glass his breath stopped and he simply stared. The man from the legend seemed to be walking groggily across the room, he looked as if he was already falling to despair as the souls in the legend had feared, Triton’s heart went out to him and the graceful man turned to look at him. Time simply stopped as velvet green met deep purple; the purple eyed man looked like he hadn’t had decent sleep in ages. They stood staring at one another for what felt like seconds to Triton, but suddenly a door slammed and the braided man jolted breaking the spell and Triton ran off back into the trees berating himself for being seen. He’d completely forgotten about the bobcats...

Amber heard running and then knocking and the blonde woman in front of her called out, “Duo? Is that you?” Her voice wavered a bit and the door was sent banging into the wall. A presence entered the room with a growl; Amber had to fight the urge to flee before a voice spoke with a calm that settled through the room almost making her forget that there were bobcats prowling around these people’s home. But then the woman went to get off the bed, the voice having calmed her as well, and Amber growled at her again. They needed to know of the danger!

“It’s alright. I need you to let my mom take care of my dad, okay?” The voice addressed her and she finally turned her head to look at the figure. She met his eyes and knew that she was faced with the man of legend. But she tried to convey that she understood and then she looked out the door she’d come in. Hoping that he would understand as well. The tired young man growled again rushing to the open door and yelling at the bobcats, sending them fleeing into the trees. So Amber took her leave as well, nodding to the Lord of Death in approval before rushing back to her children.


	5. Waking Up

The next morning Solo woke to the pain in his leg and the smell of bacon and eggs. The smell of food meant that his wife was already up, since he knew his son would not have been up yet - not with chocolate in his system. Glancing over at the clock Solo noted that it was only nine A.M. A little over four hours of sleep would have to do. If his wife could do it, then so could he.

Groaning Solo rolled out of bed and found his slippers and walked out to the kitchen for the painkiller that was waiting to be devoured there. Seeing his wife in short jean shorts and a skin-tight white T-shirt sent him on a trip down memory lane as he walked into the kitchen and thumped into a chair at the dining table. The differences to the scene being that Sara's T-shirt had been pale pink and had a smiley face on it and she was wearing hiking boots and leaning over a campfire instead of a stove, the memory folded out before his eyes as the day he'd met her at Carnival in Romania. Both had ended up there for school trips, something the higher ups called a "learning experience". Solo had been 17 and Sara 16, why a place in Romania was picked, nobody knew. When Solo had first seen Sara he'd been instantly lost, one of those 'love at first sight' cliché things except the falling in love part came later: he had been with a group of friends just walking by and he'd glanced her way and literally stopped in his tracks. When her friends had pointed out to her that he was staring he'd tried to act like that wasn't so and walked right into a pole. Right then was when his own friends had realized he wasn't with them anymore and turned around to find him, yeah, just in time to see him rebound. He still to this day got teased about it. But when Sara had looked over and right into his eyes, blue-grey met purpley-blue and it was all over. They gravitated to each other and ended up hanging out for the rest of the day. Solo smirked; it had been a very memorable day.

"Well I know where your mind's at. My dirty old man." Sara affectionately said with a pointed look at the bulge in Solo's pj's and a smirk on her face.

Blushing Solo shifted around in his seat and brought his thoughts back into the present. "So, um, how long have you been up?"

"Only long enough to start coffee, bacon and eggs. Oh, and toast. Kiddo can you butter them please?" Sara answered her husband.

Solo looked around confused until his eyes fell on Duo walking groggily into the kitchen.

"Yeah sure Mom." Duo replied and headed for the fridge to grab the butter.

"Wow, you imbibed chocolate only four hours ago and you're already awake. An amazing new record-." Solo started sports-commentary-style only to have his wife smack him upside the head with a dish towel. "Ouch!"

Duo giggled from his spot at the counter buttering toast. "How many slices am I making? Just one each or two?"

Solo and Sara looked at each other and then back at Duo. "Two."

Their synced response made Duo giggle again as he turned to the toaster to make more.

"Since when does our son giggle?" Sara asked under her breath into Solo's ear.

"I have no idea." He replied just as quietly looking at their son quizzically.

Once breakfast was on the table with Orange Juice for everyone and they were all seated Duo was awake enough to ask, "Hey Dad, how's your leg?"

"Oh, it's alright. I took some painkiller once I got my juice. I'll be just fine, nothing needed stitching so." Solo shrugged as he trailed off.

Duo sighed in relief. "I'm sorry I didn't ask last night."

Sara smiled at him, "That's okay Duo, you were kind of distracted by us yelling and telling you things you should have been told a LONG time ago. I'm sure even your father forgot he was wounded himself and he hadn't had any painkiller yet."

Solo laughed, "Yeah pretty much. I'm so sorry Duo; we shouldn't have been so blind to what was happening to you. We know the legends and history, we should have understood."

"It's alright. We know now and I can learn from there right?" Duo smiled hopefully.

"Yes, you can." His mother answered him.

"Ah, first things first though. I need to call in and tell them that I won't be out today and ask about any fires. Can you bring me the phone son?" Solo asked.

"Sure thing Dad." Duo went to the living room and came back with the cordless phone. Sitting back down he finished eating and then got up and washed, dried and put away his dishes.

"Hey Duo?" His mother started.

Duo turned to face her, "Yeah Mom?"

"Are you wearing foundation again?" Sara was hesitant to ask, but it didn't look like he was, he'd seemed too tired to have bothered when he walked into the kitchen, but he looked so much better.

"No, I'm not, wasn't really awake enough for that. But I feel better, like I actually got sleep." Duo answered with a grin. He wasn't at all surprised that his mom had noticed he was wearing make-up, she was a girl after all, plus he was pretty sure she knew he was gay; he wasn't really looking forward to that eventual conversation. But he knew his parents wouldn't really care all that much.

Sara smiled, "Well that's good. I'm glad you're feeling better."

Overhearing the conversation as he dialed and waited for the Ranger Station to answer Solo smiled, he was glad, maybe just talking about it and having Duo learn what he was supposed to do would be all he needed.

The phone line picked up: "Holy shit Maxwell, are you and your family alright?!" Came the over-loud voice of Chief Schbeiker.

Solo blinked, "Yeah Boss everything's fine. Why, is something up?"

"We've been trying to call you all damn day! We had a new family move into that old ranch down the road from you guys yesterday. They called in last night saying there were a bunch of bobcats out by your place." Chief Schbeiker told him.

"Oh." Solo looked at his family who were now staring at him having heard the Chiefs' initial yelling. "So we've got new neighbors huh? We'll have to say hi at some point. However Chief I was actually calling to say I wouldn't be coming in today."

"Why's that, you just said you were fine." The man grumbled.

"To a point yes. I got a bobcat to the leg last night, nothing too serious, no stitches, but it hurts like a mother and I don't think I'd be much use when walking so much is painful. And to not be in pain for it I'd be drugged up and that's even less useful." Solo chuckled.

"I guess you've got a point." The Chief's gruff voice chuckled over the line. "Well you rest up and see if you can't come by sometime today or tomorrow and give a report about it."

"Sure thing, and Boss?" There was a pause in motion on the other end of the line. "Are there any forest fires in the area? Or more exactly the area that the bobcats inhabit?"

"How in the Sam-hell did you know that?" Chief Schbeiker sounded incredulous.

"Just thinking that the bobcats came down because of a problem in their territory is all. A fire seemed the most likely." Solo responded neutrally.

"Hmmm, yeah maybe. But yes there's a fire up there. We sent out people to take care of it, even called in the Guard to help out. We're currently trying to locate the retards that started it. Once we do there'll be Hel to pay." The Chief's voice was dark with promise.

"Hm, sounds good. If you need any more help with the fire or looking just let us know." Solo said.

"Sure thing Maxwell, see you." There was a click as the Chief hung-up.

"Well," Solo said turning to face his family, setting the phone down on the table. "It seems there is a fire in bobcat territory. They've even called in the Coast Guard to help deal with it. Haven't found the morons that started it yet, but they're looking."

Sara and Duo's faces both held glum expressions at the news.

"On a lighter note, we seem to have new neighbors. That old ranch down the way. Apparently they'd called into the station last night about the bobcats out here. The Rangers have been trying to get ahold of us all morning to see if we're alright. I don't see how we wouldn't have heard the phone though. Even with how tired we all were." Solo grumbled.

"Sorry, that would be my fault. I turned the ringer off yesterday afternoon. That stupid electric company guy kept calling over and over and over yesterday. I got pretty sick of it. The only reason that asshole calls is to hit on me, he's SO certain that he can get me away from you. It makes me wanna puke." Sara's face was scrunched up in the most disgusted look they'd ever seen.

"Don't worry about it Mom, it just means you're still hott." Solo smacked his son upside his head.

"Only I'm allowed to say that." His dad groused looking at his wife with wolf sized puppy eyes.

Sara giggled, "You are such a dork. But I love you anyways." She moved over and hugged her son before giving her husband a quick kiss and grabbing the phone to turn the ringer back on.

Duo grinned; he loved it when his parents were like this. It always made him feel safe somehow. "I think I'm gonna take my computer out and see if I can find that clearing again and get some homework done."

"Alright son, have fun, and be careful. We don't know if those bobcats are still out there or not, or the wolves for that matter." His father cautioned.

Duo nodded as he left the room. Getting to his bedroom he got dressed for the day, thankful that he didn't need the foundation. He looked much better, grabbing his computer bag and putting said computer in it; he left the house and headed for the woods.

Heading out to the clearing was of course a difficult task, the thing was always hard to find. But Duo knew where the river was and he knew that once he got to it all he had to do to find the clearing was follow the river to its fork and then take a left and hope he got lucky the first try or it would be rinse and repeat for a while. Having found the river Duo was currently trudging up to the fork, it was the deepest part of the river and he and his family occasionally went swimming there. Getting to the spot where the brush cleared away and there was a clear path to the river Duo paused scanning the area. He wasn't stupid; he knew he needed to watch out for bears and coyotes not just bobcats and mysterious giant wolves. Honestly he had to look out for foxes as well, the silly little ankle biters liked to steal his food. Duo frowned in thought thinking about the last fox he'd seen, the little bugger had decided to come up and take his sandwich right out of his hands and run off with it! He hadn't known they ate that kind of stuff! Hearing a splash Duo began to slowly turn and look at the river, generally splashes meant black bears, fast movement would be a bad thing. But then he heard the giggling and decided not to look at all. Girls always made him uncomfortable, and that was definitely a female giggle.

"Mariemaia! What are you doing!" An exasperated and very sexy male voice yelled out.

"I'm bathing, what's it look like genius." The woman in the water replied.

"In the middle of a river where anyone could come by and see you!?" The decadent voice was now incredulous.

"Oh shut up moron! Seriously, I doubt anyone comes out here." The girl seemed to be pouting, there was a swish of water and a slight slapping sound and Duo could just imagine the woman crossing her arms and glaring petulantly.

"Really? Then what do you call him?" Duo figured the man had pointed to him though he still had his back to them frozen in place for the time being. He couldn't see her but the female voice squeaked and he figured that was when she saw him. There was a plopping sound, the sound that water makes when it crashes together over the top of something sinking. The man giggled, presumably at the woman's actions as she'd ducked under the water.

There was splashing through the shallow spot near to where Duo was standing, he figured the man was headed toward him. "Sorry about my sister. She's a nut."

"Not at all." Duo replied, not moving his head one centimeter from facing completely away from the river.

"It's okay; she's ducked under the water, just her big wide eyes above the surface now." The guy moved around in front of Duo making it so that he could actually look into his eyes to talk to him. And as he came into view Duo almost had a heart attack, the guy was HOTT. He had dark emerald green eyes that Duo felt he could drown in and the guy's hair was the same deep brown as the wolf he'd had a staring competition with the night before. A shock of hair, what obviously constituted as the man's bangs stuck out and down at an odd angle that blocked off half of his face at a time, but honestly it simply made him more alluring. He was taller than Duo, maybe six-two, Duo couldn't be sure without asking him - and that just seemed impolite at a first meeting. He wore dark brown hiking boots with cargo shorts of dark navy and no shirt, his hard chiseled six-pack out for the world to glory at. /Seriously I think I'm gonna faint./ Duo thought to himself fighting off a blush.

"Where are you headed?" Duo heard him, and yet he didn't, still trying to wrap his mind around the delicious voice and the carnal thoughts provoking body that went with it.

"What?" The man rolled his eyes at him and repeated his question. "Oh, I'm heading to a clearing I like to go to. But I have a hard time finding it generally. So I come to the fork in the river and go left and hope I get it on the first try or I end up coming back to the river and trying again." Duo said sheepishly a hand rising to the back of his neck.

The guy grinned at him, "Well we won't keep you. Hope you find it on the first try. Though I'm sure my little sister will be gone as soon as you are." He chuckled and the sound flowed through Duo like a glass of water on a hot day.

Barely able to stand on his own and desperately hoping he wasn't giving himself away somehow Duo nodded and headed in the direction he hoped the clearing was in. "See you around."

They watched as Duo disappeared into the trees, and then turned to look at each other. "That was a close one Mariemaia. He nearly saw us, let's not do that again."

The girl nodded, "He doesn't seem to like girls much." She shrugged and then grinned at her brother. "So is he who we're here for? He really does look like the man from the legend. We're lucky his aura gave him away before he could see us. Though, he's already seen both you and mum."

He grinned at her, "Oh hush."

"I was really hoping that your mate would be a girl though Trowa." Mariemaia pouted for real now as she climbed out of the water to stand beside her brother, bare as the day she was born, as he gazed in the direction the young man had gone. "You won't get to have kids like you wanted this way."

"You know that having a mate doesn't have anything to do with that side of life Meimei. Don't worry about it." Triton replied looking back thoughtfully to where the purple eyed man had disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meimei = Little sister (Chinese)


	6. Answers?

After Duo had left the house his parents set about calling family members that were seriously lacking in the 'being helpful' department. Solo had called his family first and wasn't at all amused to learn that they hadn't thought anything of it because they had thought he'd known. He was still trying to figure out how they'd known when he hadn't when Sara found out from her mother that Duo had inherited the spirit from his Great-great-Aunt Grenda who died a week before he was conceived meaning a week and nine months before Duo was born. So as per the theme in their family, he inherited it as first born after the previous host died. Solo and Sara were pretty pissed that no one told them this when it was going on. But Sara's mom said that at the time that Modryb Grenda died Solo and Sara were still trying to find work and a place to live after getting married and moving to the United States. So they wouldn't have been able to go to the funeral anyway. However Solo's anger flared when he realized that there was no excuse for them not to tell them any time after. He'd nearly smashed his cellphone into the table. Currently on the phone with her father Sara was spitting mad about his defense as well.

"Dropping hints? You call simply not allowing my son near your damned animals a HINT. Especially when you would come over and tell us, TELL us, that he more than likely didn't have the curse! How DARE you! We wanted our children to have a normal life, that's why we moved to the United States. Yet you KNEW, the moment he was born that he would inherit Modryb Grenda's Shinigami spirit. That his life would be far from normal and yet you let us foolishly believe that he wasn't different."

"Sweetheart it wasn't like that. You had just moved there and were still getting settled. When we found out you were pregnant we didn't want to ruin it for you." Her father's voice was the kind of patient condescending tone that one tries to console a small child with after they've hurt themselves trying to do something they were told not to do. That, 'I told you so' without the explicit wording.

Sara wasn't having any of it, "So you LIED to me instead. Guess which one's more painful Tad." So saying, she hung up the phone, angry tears glittering in her storm colored eyes.

Leaning her elbows on the counter with the house phone in her right hand splayed across the surface and her left pressed to her forehead in an attempt to get herself under control she jumped a little when strong arms wrapped around her. "Solo, I... I just yelled at my dad. I'm not sure I've ever done that before. Especially when I do understand why he did what he did. But, it just hurts so much!"

"I know Honey." As Sara finally fell apart Solo took the phone from her hand and laid it on the counter, turning his wife to face him he wrapped her closer to him as she buried her face in his chest. "Yeah, my family knew about it as well. Not sure how they knew he inherited your family's Shinigami but they knew. They didn't realize we didn't know, apparently." Solo sighed and kissed the top of her head. "But we do know what's going on with him now, and we know how to help him. So let's just focus on that."

Leaning away from her husband Sara wiped her eyes with her sleeves and smiled up at him. "You're right."

"Who was your family's Shinigami again?" Solo questioned as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Arawn he was a Welsh god, the King of Hell, hmmm, I think his realms were revenge, terror, war, and of course the underworld." Sara thought back to all the lore she'd learned as a child in Wales.

"So he's a Shinigami spirit for the same reason as ours, he was a God of the Underworld?" Solo asked.

Sara grinned, "Yes, though it's his other attributes that worry me."

Solo smiled down at her, "That I can understand. Hmmm, I think ours is Veles, god of earth, waters, and the underworld. My younger brother has ours. Apparently Veles jumps from host to host, if he finds someone stronger in the family, no matter how young or old, he jumps. Though he can only do that if his current host and the stronger one are in physical contact. S'why I was always afraid of taking Duo to family reunions in Russia, our son is a pretty strong person. But Sten seems to still have it. Plus the last time they were in the same place Duo was only four."

Sara nodded, "Did you want to use the truck and go up to the Ranger Station and check in? We might as well get it done today. I can drive you." She requited after long moments of them simply holding each other soaking up one another's presence.

"Sounds good to me, but we might want to get dressed first, and since it's now about noon, maybe have lunch? I'm sure Duo just got to that clearing of his, he took a lunch right?" Solo hadn't actually been paying much attention to his son when he'd come back into the kitchen after getting dressed and grabbing his laptop and case.

"Yes." Sara huffed, "Too busy staring at my ass to notice your own son, whatever shall I do with you?"

Solo blushed a deep red at his wife's rather acute summary of the situation and moved out of the kitchen to get dressed for the day.

Having gotten dressed and eaten lunch Sara and Solo got into her truck and drove the fourteen miles to the ranger station. On their arrival they were bombarded by the ever active and all too willing to help Hilde. The girl had become fast friends with Duo when they moved here and as far as they knew was Duo's only friend out here.

"So, did you really get attacked by bobcats Mr. Maxwell? How'd you get away? Are you badly hurt? Do you need anything? Are the cats still there? Have you met the Barton's yet?" Hilde's speed of light questioning was something that they were used to. Once she finally paused for breath Solo held up a hand so she would know that she'd be getting an answer before she was allowed to ask more questions.

"Yes I was, you can see it later, after I report in. I got away by diving through the kitchen door, and no, it's not all that bad. As far as I could tell the cats are gone. The only thing we need is to get inside and report the incident, and who are the Barton's?" Solo grinned down at the girl who's ever changing hair color was now a dark blue.

"The Barton's are your new neighbors. I'm glad you're okay! Dad should be in his office." Hilde answered with a flick of her head before sauntering off to the garage with a wave to tinker around on her pickup. The girl was a handy mechanic and had worked on both Sara's Chevy Silverado and Solo's old Chevy Blazer. Hilde had even taught Duo how to repair and do upkeep on his motorcycle, a dark purple Kawasaki Ninja. The girl was a genius when it came to anything with a motor.

As she wandered off Sara and Solo went up the steps, the blonde having to help the chocolate haired man as his leg gave him mobility issues, and into the station. They were greeted on all sides by well-wishers and people who were simply glad that they were alright. However there were others who jeered at how the 'Animal Man' had gotten a little too close to the kitty-kitties. Solo took it all in good humor, knowing that they were referring to the time he'd had to coax a couple of bobcats out of a building that they'd made into their den. The building was condemned and the demolishers had come by and found them, rather painfully found them. They'd called the Rangers and Solo had gone in with a team to move them. They didn't make any headway with the cats until Solo had grabbed a fluffy tree branch and started swaying it around like a cat toy and saying 'here kitty kitty'. It was always an amusing story. They'd started calling him the 'Animal Man' however because he was always able to coax the animals into safety, whether they started out angry or not, he was always able to calm them. He was their go-to guy when it came to animal problems.

They wandered their way to Chief Hank Schbeiker's office, knocking on the door Solo heard a crash and thump before the now cursing Chief opened his door. "What?!"

Solo blinked at the man's flushed face and truly irritated greeting, watching as realization dawned on the poor man's face Solo smiled, "You wanted my incident report?" He questioned with a quizzical brow.

"Uh, yes. Sorry," He ran a hand raggedly through his greying black hair, "We found the culprits who set fire to the woods. But we can't slam them with anything because it was a "religious retreat"." The Chief air-quoted with disgust.

"Ouch. That sucks. What'd you knock over in there?" Solo asked curiously, /Looks like Duo was right, it seems his dreams are a bit prophetic, this could be bad./ He thought to himself.

"That damn plant that Hilde and Megan got for me. Said it would make the space more appealing, ha! All the damn thing does is get in my way!" The big man's bushy eyebrows came together on his forehead as he recalled how persistent his wife and daughter had been about him getting that particular plant for his office.

Sara looked past the man to the area in front of his office window, "Oh Hank, you hopeless man. It's practically dead." She brushed past him and picked the Red Chokeberry plant up off of the floor and gathered as much soil back into the pot as she could, she sat the planter on the small table in front of the window. "Why don't the two of you deal with that bobcat report and I'll take care of the plant?"

Both men simply looked at her for a moment before nodding. Hank went over and grabbed the paperwork they would need from his overflowing desk and walked back to the doorway where Solo still stood. Waving the papers in Solo's face he spoke, "Let's go to the break room and fill this out, that way you have a place to sit down."

Solo nodded and headed down the hallway to the well-lit and well caffeinated break room, Hank following behind. Once they reached the room Hank set the papers on a table and got himself a mug of hot black coffee, he motioned to Solo, silently asking if he'd like a cup. Solo shook his head and sat down before the papers, having grabbed a pen off of the counter by the door. After Hank had taken a seat Solo proceeded to tell him the same story that he'd told Sara the night before, well more that morning, but that was a technicality. Hank had already known about the bobcat that pounced him, since Solo had been on his way back with the bear report when it had happened and he'd mentioned it as odd. They all knew that the predators didn't generally travel along well humanized areas – the smell of humans was generally avoided at all costs. Hearing about how the wild cats had circled his house however had the Chief raising a brow, "You think they targeted your house?"

Solo laughed, "Of course not, that's a little too strange. I'm not sure what it was that brought them our way, or what made them finally leave." However to himself he admitted that they probably had 'targeted' his home, his son was there after all. But there was no way he was going to tell anyone not in the family about the family 'curse'. So he also left out the wolves, simply saying that both Sara and Duo had been inside the whole time and didn't even know the cats were there until he'd crashed through the door.

While the men took care of the paperwork Sara found the vacuum and sucked up the rest of the dirt on the Chief's carpet before finding Hilde and asking if she had anything lying around that could be used to trim the plant a bit so that it fit into the window. Coming back with an old pair of bolt cutters she set to work trimming the tree, taking the trimmings out to the mulch pile behind the station and vacuuming up the rest of the mess, she grabbed up some more potting soil from the station's shed – why that place didn't have hedge clippers was beyond her – and replaced the lost soil. She was just watering the poor plant when the men returned.

"That should do it." Chief Schbeiker stated as he rose from his chair. "Let's go save my office from your wife."

Solo grinned at him, "I doubt she's had time to do anything but care for that plant, it was in pretty bad shape after all." Hank smacked him in the arm.

They returned to find Sara watering the plant, "See, told ya." Hank smacked him again.

"We good to go?" Sara queried.

"Yeah, we're golden." Solo answered.

"Hank? Make sure to water this plant once a day, one cup full. If this dies Megan will have your head and you know it." Sara huffed her way out of the room, leaving the Chief Ranger pouting at his desk.

Solo just shook his head, "I'll call if I can't come in tomorrow. We'll see how sore my damn leg is." He waved good-bye after Hank nodded at him, leaving the man to go back to thinking of inventive ways to kill religious fanatics who think it's okay to burn forests down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tad = Dad, Modryb = Aunt (Welsh)


	7. Stalker

Triton had been hoping that he would see the other man again; the deep purple of his eyes had haunted his sleep that night. The need to protect the man was intense but he wasn't sure if he should act on it or not. His mother had mentioned that the woman who seemed to be the purple eyed man's mother had called him Duo, but they weren't sure yet if he was Duo Maxwell – let alone the Duo Maxwell they needed - or not. However when the man came walking through the woods to where he and his sister had been hunting Triton's urge to talk to the man in person trounced every lesson he'd ever learned about keeping his people safe. He'd turned back into a human and found his shorts and shoes, hastily putting them back on; Mariemaia had simply stood there in wolfish curiosity until she heard his footfalls. The man's aura was so relaxing she hadn't really noticed it. Her big eyes had widened and she'd dove into the river behind her, changing from fur to flesh as she hit the water and droplets rained around her. It had made Triton laugh, but also gave him exactly the opening he'd needed. Mariemaia was right however, the man was definitely into guys, and Triton was desperately into him. He couldn't really explain the pull, but there was just something about him... he really hoped that this purple eyed man was the one that was supposed to be his mate, otherwise he was going to have a very serious problem.

Triton knew that his sister meant well when she complained of his not having kids, she just wanted him to be happy. Especially since he was cursed with not only being what they were but with two spirits of Silence. Because of this Triton had grown up very protective of his family and any friends that he made, though such friends were very few and far between. So when someone caught his eye there was usually a reason. Usually someone would catch his eye if they were particularly open-minded and accepting. Or they were someone who had another type of Spirit attached to them, or were just different in that they weren't actually human. Though mostly those who piqued his interest as this purple-eyed man had done were ones that he could simply be himself around, people who wouldn't judge him before they knew him. And that boded well in his opinion. He hadn't asked the man his name, having been too curious about simply hearing his voice than what the brunette actually said. However as he continued to gaze after the disappearing braid he felt a need to know. Turning to Mariemaia he told her that he would be back home later and took off after the mysterious man. His sister simply nodded and continued her hunt.

Duo wandered away from the fork in the river in a daze; after he'd cleared the range of sight for the river he'd slowed his determined walk and kind of slumped into himself. He couldn't believe someone that 'perfect' existed. If he'd had any doubts before about his sexual orientation, they no longer existed. Tripping over a root in his befuddled state he landed face first in lush green grass. Sitting up Duo found himself in the clearing he wanted, and as always, he had paid the toll. Rubbing the bridge of his nose Duo grunted as he rose to his feet and picked a spot on the grass to lay out his stuff so he could get to work. /I'll never understand how even when I'm looking for it I always trip over a root or something when I enter this place./ His thoughts grumbled as he found a place to sit.

He took out his laptop and the different books and sheaves of paper that he needed to do his homework. He laid everything out, making sure to tack down the loose paper with books so that a stray breeze would not blow them away. Turning on his laptop Duo checked the time, right on cue his stomach growled at 12:30. Giggling to himself Duo pulled out the lunch he and his mother had packed before he left while his father blatantly watched his mom's ass move about the kitchen. Though knowing his mother she'd probably worn those short shorts just to torture his father.

Munching on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich Duo began settling everything for his History of Agriculture paper into closer proximity to himself. Luckily he had all of the sources downloaded to his computer or in book form. He'd read all of them already and had a folder with notes and useable references which he could glance at if he couldn't remember where something was while he was typing up his paper. So prepared he set to work.

Triton followed the purple eyed man to the clearing, tripping over a root himself, but stalling his fall on a nearby tree before he crashed and made any noise. Having the man see him now would be bad; he'd think Triton was some kind of stalker or something...though in a sense... this was kind of stalking. Looking up Triton saw the clearing for the first time and nearly sighed aloud in awe, it was beautiful. With the stately ring of White Oak trees in a perfect circle and the half of the clearing across from his current position filled with thousands of wild flowers: Swamp Azalea, Highbush Blueberry, Pinxterbloom Azalea, American Highbush Cranberry, Mountain Laurel, Rosebay, Sweet Pepperbush, Red Chokeberry, and Winterberry Holly all mixed together their faces raised to the sun and swaying in the slight breeze. Triton had never seen a more beautiful, peaceful place. He felt as close to the god's in this clearing as he did in any of the Sacred Groves back home in Russia. He was a bit amazed that every flower that grew in Connecticut was growing in the grove as well. His knowledge of the plants came from the extensive studies that the various gods had put him through as he grew up. He hadn't understood why he needed to know the different plants from around the world. But he was now glad that he did. Perhaps it could be a useful conversation topic in the future?

Triton watched as the man set about pulling out a laptop and books and papers, then eating before starting to type. He sat for hours observing as the braided man would read something from the papers surrounding him, fluttering when caught in the breeze but kept from flying away by the books placed over them, and then type speedily away on his laptop. Triton really wanted to go over and ask the boy what he was doing, ask him his name for crying out loud! He wanted to know if the man before him was his mate, he could feel a pull, and he could sense two Spirits in the man but that really told him nothing. Even though one person having two spirits didn't ever happen really, Triton couldn't be sure without asking. After all, he didn't know what a Shinigami's spirit would, well, feel like. Triton's family had been called upon by Porewit to fix the problem, yet they were only told where to go, and who to look for, not how to find him. It seemed that the double Shinigami was causing Porewit no undue amounts of stress. The poor Shinigami'd man didn't even know that just walking through the forest would end up killing things, not that it was murder or anything of the sort, but that creatures of every type that were old and dying would simply up and croak if he passed by. The animals sensed the Shinigami and felt they could go in peace, knowing they would be helped along. Creatures that he wasn't helping to the afterlife, simply because he didn't know how to do so yet. It made the amount ghosts he could sense understandable, since most animals didn't know where to go when they died, they spent their whole lives simply existing, they knew nothing else.

Sighing inwardly Triton changed his mind about asking the purple eyed man his name. The man was obviously busy and disturbing him now, especially after having simply just watched him for the last few hours wasn't likely to make a good impression. He slowly rose from where he crouched just inside the clearing, still hidden among the tall White Oaks. Maybe his dad knew the man's name. Looking back at him Triton quirked a smile at the picture he made: the bounty of flowers off to the side, a pencil sticking out of his lips as he rolled it there in thought, his shoulders hunched over his laptop simply staring at the screen his brow furrowed, his long braid being picked at by the air, tendrils waving as they were captured. /That man is a decidedly beautiful sight./ Triton thought to himself and then blushed as he realized he'd never categorized a man that way before. He'd only ever dated women, but his mate... well he'd deal with these new feelings for a man he wasn't even sure was who he was looking for later. After he'd formally met the man. So decided he undressed and bundled his cloths together before Triton's body shifted as he turned to leave, four paws hitting the ground he carefully picked up his clothing and ran back to his family's new home.

Duo looked up, he'd felt watched for a while now, but that was normal so he hadn't bothered trying to find out what animal was staring at him. But the feeling had suddenly disappeared, seeing nothing out of the ordinary however he went back to working on his paper. Once he was finished with his paper, thankful that the day didn't turn bleak like the weatherman kept saying it was going to sometime this week, he packed up and headed back home. He came upon the river and heard splashing again and stopped dead in his tracks, the growls that he could hear were definitely bears this time. Moving slowly to the water's edge he looked out with a smile as he found two cubs playing in the river while their mother watched from the opposite shore. He turned slowly and began the trek back home - it was always nice to see new life, it was a large part of why summer was his favorite time of year. He spent most of his journey back to the house thinking about the weird presence he'd felt watching him. Usually it wasn't something that went away, whatever creature was watching would continue to do so until he left. So the fact that the scrutiny that he'd been under for several hours had simply left suddenly, threw him a bit. Duo wondered what it could have been, coming up with various gods or maybe even aliens, until he was walking across the clearing that made up their side yard.

The prints in the loose dirt in places gave him pause and brought him back to himself. He looked around to see if his parents were still here, but it seemed that his mother's truck was gone. He figured they'd gone up to the station to report in about the bobcats from last night. He went around the entire grounds of their residence and blotted out any and all wolf prints he could find. If someone came out to maybe check on how many bobcats had been out here he didn't want them freaking out about there being something even bigger in the woods to deal with. Especially since he was sure that the wolves he'd seen were there to help and not to harm. Remembering the wolf that he'd stared at for what must have been around two hours the night before had him sighing in pleasure. It had been such a magnificent sight, and the color of its fur... suddenly the image in his mind changed to the boy... well man probably, that he'd met on his way to the clearing. His hair had been the same exact color, it was gorgeous! Plus those green eyes, even though they played peek-a-boo with you through his bangs, Duo felt that he could simply drown in just his recollection of them. He really didn't know what on Earth he'd do if he ever saw the man again, he hadn't even asked for his name!

Duo grumbled to himself, hitting a palm to his forehead as he shook his head at himself and unlocked the kitchen door pushing it open to let himself inside. "I'm going to be having some interesting dreams for a while I think." He closed the door behind himself and walked across the house to his room to put his things away before heading back to the kitchen. He figured he'd send his paper to his professor later, it wasn't due until next week anyway. He grabbed himself another sandwich and a glass of orange juice and simply sat at the table a while daydreaming about the mystery hottie he'd met and wondering if he and his family were only there vacationing or if...perhaps? Nah, he wouldn't get his hopes up that the man was one of his new neighbors.


	8. Enter the Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am making the Aland Islands the Kingdom of Sanc with Sund as the capital. Just fyi.

His black eyes stared straight ahead as the Dragon Master brought the massive sword down in a cleaving motion over his older sister’s neck. He didn’t so much as flinch as her scream pierced the air and was suddenly, forever, silenced. She was a traitor, a non-believer, and had almost succeeded in selling him into slavery in another country. As far as he was concerned she deserved what she got.

“Young Master?” An aging man bowed before him snagging WuFei’s attention. “The Peacecraft’s have arrived.”

“Thank you.” With a nod of his head WuFei headed off the grounds and into the pagoda shaped castle that had housed his family for generations. He was sure that the mess his sister’s death had made would be cleaned up before their guests could chance upon it, and if it wasn’t... well there would be a bigger mess later.

He made his way to the main hall and went to stand at his father’s side as the male members of the Peacecraft family entered the room. His father made no reaction to his entrance and simply raised a hand in greeting to the King of Sanc as said man and his son entered. The tall elegant man brought his own up in greeting with a smile on his face, his son at his side however frowned. WuFei almost wanted the younger blonde to speak, it would give their country cause to wage war on Sanc and end these stupid peace talks. But it seemed the man knew their customs and kept quiet treading one step behind his father and to the right.

A stout man of early ageing, meaning he was about forty-something, came from the right side of the throne to speak for the Dragon Emperor. “Greetings to the King of Sanc and his heir, it is with great pleasure that we meet with you this day to discuss a peace between our lands and an end to the last five years of war.”

WuFei nearly rolled his eyes, but refrained knowing that it was impolite and he could be cast out for disgracing his family if someone saw him. But the so called war that had been going on had mostly consisted of assassination attempts from both sides. And yet no one on either end was dead, but all of the best killers from both countries were in the prisons of their opposing country. Basically this negotiation was to get said assassins released under the pretense of never using them against each other again.

Once the pleasantries were out of the way and the Sanc family was sequestered in their suit of rooms the Dragon Emperor summoned his son back to him. WuFei came before his father and bowed before kneeling on the floor at the base of the small raised dais on which his father sat.

“Has Seth taken his appeasement from your sister in accordance with Zirnitran law?” The Dragon Emperor was always straight to the point.

WuFei raised his bowed head and looked at a spot just beside his father’s head on the wall behind him. “Yes Dragon Emperor. Our ways were upheld and the heretic has been silenced.”

When he was younger WuFei had feared greatly the tines that were used in the torture of his land’s enemies, the dragon masks of the priests who chanted loud and creepily, and of the blood that his father and grandfather said must flow in order for their land to be at peace. But now he took everything in stride, beheading his own sister did not faze him, she was a non-believer and tried to change their ways with what she called the Light of Christianity. They wouldn’t stand for that, and she had known that. If anything bothered WuFei about it, it was that. That she had known the consequences for her actions and had done them anyway. He knew that his ill-fated sister would not be seen as a martyr, not by anyone on the Dragon Isle anyway. Their cult mystery and dragon lure weren’t simply tales, Zirnitra truly existed and they worshipped his magical prowess along with the Winds of Change. Which is why it made sense that WuFei was inhabited by the spirit of Seth, Egyptian God of Chaos - chaos tended to ‘change’ things. It was said the the royal line of the Dragon Isle were descended from Zirnitra himself, and they were proud of this distinction.

The Dragon Emperor nodded, “Good. Your mother has suggested that you marry into the Peacecraft family in order to maintain our peace.”

He threw the words out there nonchalantly but they ripped through WuFei and his startled gaze clashed with his father’s before he regained control of himself and focused on that spot on the wall behind his father’s head. “I will do as the clan wishes.” Was his simple answer.

“The Clan has not decided. I would know your thoughts on such a subject my son. You have an older brother who will gain the throne of the Dragon Emperor when I am gone. Yet you have been gifted with the insight of the god Seth. So the choice must also be yours.” The Emperor knew that the dragon’s blood that ran in his family’s veins was more prominent in WuFei, the god in his mind pushing it to the fore. He did not want to force anything on his youngest child, not at this point in the young man’s life anyway.

Startled yet again WuFei did not let it show this time but considered his answer carefully. “Who would I be marrying in the Peacecraft family?”

“Their daughter Relena.”

WuFei did not let the disgust show on his face, he knew that his family would want him to marry a woman some day, his preference for the opposite gender was known only to himself. He gave a small nod to show his father that he understood and was still thinking things through. “When has mother suggested this marriage take place?”

“Within the next two months.”

WuFei’s jaw dropped, he couldn’t stop it, the anguish in his nearly black eyes could not be hidden, though his gaze did not move from its spot on the wall.

“My thoughts exactly.” The Dragon Emperor sighed. “She thinks only of alliances and not of how they would affect the people in them.”

WuFei finally closed his mouth only to open it and ask, “How it would affect them?”

“Yes my son. You who are one with the Winds of Change, a force of Chaos and redemption, should not be shackled into such a strict way of life. Marrying for an alliance would mean that you would have to attend public functions both here and wherever the Peacecrafts go. You would no longer live on the Dragon Isle, but in Sanc. And that poor girl would have to be subjected to Zirnitran law. Which you can be sure she would not survive. From what I have seen of her over the years she is far too girly to become a Dragon’s lover.” The Dragon Emperor shook his head sadly.

“That would be problematic.” Was WuFei’s only response. He knew that his wife not passing the test would make him an exile of the Dragon Isle for the rest of his life. It would also mean that he would be hunted by the Zirntran assassins until they killed him. Such a disgrace to the Clan was not to be left unpunished. “I will not marry someone who would dishonor my family or my Clan.”

The Dragon Emperor nodded with a small smile playing across his mouth that WuFei saw out of the corner of his eye. It seemed his father was well pleased with his response. “Your mother says that if the Peacecraft woman is not good enough than the Catalonia one should do.”

Open fear and disgust crossed WuFei’s face, “Please, not her!”

His father chuckled, “No my son. I think you will not marry any time soon, if ever. Your path will be much different than such domestic tidings.”

WuFei blanked his expression again, “What would you have me do?”

Days later WuFei was on a ship headed to the Kingdom of Sanc with the Peacecraft family. He had learned that Milliardo was as much of a prick as he had originally thought, but could not hold his own in an honorable fight when taken up on his snide remarks. Relena was vapid and shallow on the surface, but underneath laid a layer of steel that the Zirntran found intriguing. Their parents WuFei could do without, they were kind and lovey-dovey which tended to make him want to gag all the time. But he also felt a type of freedom to finally be leaving the shores of his home, he had felt a yearning he couldn’t explain for several years now, and it finally felt like he was getting closer to it.

Coming out on deck to watch the sun rise again as he did every morning he climbed up to what amounted as the crow's nest on this metal ship and sat down to meditate. Usually whoever was on duty there left him to it, but the excited energy coming off of the man kept invading his calm. “Is there something different about today?”

His arch voice had the lookout jumping slightly, “I’m sorry, I just can’t wait to see the first glance of home.”

That got WuFei’s attention and he opened his eyes and turned to look up at the man, “We will be arriving today?”

The man smiled, “Yes we will. We should be docked by early evening. The landmass to the left is Sweden. We’re nearly there.”

WuFei turned back to his meditation with a smile on his face. It had been a month or so since he left his own island, he was excited to see what Sanc looked like. As the sun rose a landmass appeared before them seemingly way off in the distance but the heartfelt sigh that escaped the lookout told WuFei that it was the man’s home. He stood in the lookout for the rest of the day as they wound their way through the islands that made up Sanc to its heart where they finally docked. It was only then as he looked out among the thick forests in the distance and the palace rising from the city before the docks that he finally came down to gather his things and disembark. The beauty of the island took his breath away but he let only a small pleased smile grace his face to show his benefactors any of his thoughts on the matter of their home. Limos sat waiting for them as they came up from the dock, the King gesturing him into the one with himself and his wife while his children took another.

“I know that you are not simply here to learn of our customs young Master Chang, but I hope you will not find them repulsive. And I hope that you will be able to adapt to them without losing anything of your own culture. If there are any problems with our people’s interactions with you please let me know. We don’t want you to get hurt, or have any of our people hurt for misunderstandings of culture.” Marticus began as the limo rolled by cobbled streets and brick and stone buildings on its way to the palace.

WuFei inclined his head, “It would be dishonorable to slight another for such a difference. I will bring any such troubles to you.”

The King smiled and nodded his head. “Thank you. You will be given your own wing in the castle to do with as you please. It will be a set of five rooms. A bed chamber, bathing room, solar, study, and a workout room. I hope that will be satisfactory?”

WuFei nearly choked, his room at the palace back home consisted of a bedroom and a bathroom. “That will be fine. Thank you.”

Satisfied the King sat back and made small talk about the city with his wife for the remainder of the drive. Reaching the castle WuFei was again struck with awe upon seeing the monolithic structure. He helped unload his luggage and followed a servant to his rooms to ‘make himself at home’.


	9. Pretty, Witty and Gay

Solo and Sara went out of the station and were once again pounced upon by Hilde, “So~?”

With an indulgent shake of his head Solo held out his leg for the young woman to see. And Hilde bent to the task of carefully unwrapping the bandage around Solo’s calf. She sucked in a breath through her teeth at the ragged lines a bobcat’s claws had left in his skin and sadly shook her head before replacing the bandage.

“That’s pretty bad. But it could have been worse huh?” She asked quietly.

Solo nodded his head solemnly, “It very well could have. Those cats were just prowlin’ around at the back of the house, when I drove up all I could see of them were moving shadows and the light occasionally reflecting off of their eyes. It didn’t really register that it could be anything other than maybe deer or raccoons.” He shook his head at himself, “Then I get out and one of them crosses into the view of the porch light. I didn’t hesitate, I booked it to the closest door. Though in retrospect… I probably would have had a better chance if I’d walked and not gotten the poor feline so excited to chase me down.”

Sara shook her head with a chuckle as she imagined the sight: a restless bobcat simply wandering around and suddenly there’s movement. It goes on instinct to take it down, whether it’s another bobcat who will play around with it or maybe it’s food. But then it sees and smells a human and another kind of instinct takes over - one born of fear and the need to survive.

“Hmm, you’re really lucky to get off with just that then. The bobcat’s around here are terrified of humans. Not that I blame them, the poor things.” Hilde said.

Solo nodded, “Don’t I know it.” He let out a big sigh, “I got to the door and had it unlocked just as it got to me. We kind of fell into the door, which seemed to scare it off. I scrambled my way inside and closed the door. Until do found me I was just staring at it in shock.”

Hidle smiled at that, “Yeah, mom did the same thing when that copper head got into our house!” She giggled, “She just stood there staring at it for several minutes before she called out to me. I almost didn’t hear her she was so quiet. She felt any loud sounds would startle it.” She grinned with a shake of her head. “I came into the kitchen and saw this snake reared up and having a staring contest with my mother and had a time of it trying not to laugh. Went out to the shed and got some of those nose things you catch snakes with and caught it and put it back outside where it belonged.”

Sara had a chuckle over that one; she had arrived at the Schbeiker’s place - to help Megan get things made for a bake sale they were hosting that weekend - just as Hilde was taking the snake out into the woods to release it. When she had walked in Megan had collapsed into a puddle on the floor for half an hour as the other two women tried to console her. Then they spent the next couple of hours searching the house high and low for anyway the snake could have gotten in. They found one of the windows in the living room open and missing a corner of it’s bug-screening. Once that was fixed they finally got to baking.

Solo chuckled at Hilde’s description, having heard the tale for Sara when she had come home the night it had happened. “Well we better head back home.”

Sara glanced at him with concern, noting the tiredness in his voice. The last two days had taken a lot out of both of them to be honest. Finding out that their son was a Shinigami and that their families hadn’t had the decency to tell them that. Either thinking that they already knew, or for some reason trying to make sure that they didn’t. Her blue eyes hardened around the edges as she thought about it causing Hilde to cock her head to the side in question at her.

“Sare?” Solo said quietly.

Blinking Sara shook her head and noticed Hilde’s stance, “Oh it’s nothing. Just been a long day is all.”

Hilde smiled, “Well you guys get home and rest up. This weekend is the fair after all!” She waved her hand after them as she walked back to the garage.

“Oh right.” Both Maxwell’s said in unison before climbing back into Sara’s truck and heading home.

“Do you know if Duo still wanted to go to the fair with us?” Solo asked after a few miles of silence.

“I’m not sure. I know he was planning on help us set up at least. I’m sure he planned to go on rides and whatnot with Hilde. It’s probably why she sounded so excited about it.” Sara chuckled.

“You’d think that girl had a crush on him.” Solo grinned.

“Well, why wouldn’t she?” Sara asked.

“Because she knows that Duo is gay?” Solo offered.

Sara didn’t make a comment to that, unaware that Duo had confided in Hilde several months ago as they were working on his motorcycle. Hilde had asked him out...and he had embarrassedly told her that he wasn’t really interested in girls. Solo had overheard the conversation when he’d headed to the garage to grab one of the ATV’s so he could go check on a distant camp site that regular vehicles couldn’t reach.

Once they got home it was about time for dinner, so they came in through the side door and found Duo asleep with his head on the kitchen table.

“Oh my.” Sara started quietly, “Should we wake him?”

Solo shutting the door behind them however woke their son just as she finished asking her question.

Rubbing his eyes Duo looked over at his parents. “Hey, how’d it go?”

“Just fine. We got the report taken care of and we called all our estranged family members today after you left. Apparently you’re mother’s family did know that you had a Shinigami spirit. They just never felt the need to let us actually know.” Solo rolled his eyes as he sat down at the table with a sigh.

“Yes, apparently your father’s family also knew. However, they were under the impression that we did as well.” Sara chuckled lightly. “What should we have for dinner?”

“Can we have lasagna?” Duo asked with a hopeful expression.

“I think so. Will you go check the pantry for tomato sauce and lasagna noodles?” Sara answered as she checked the fridge to see if they had the cheese and meat necessary for making the meal.

“On it.” Duo hopped up from his chair and opened the pantry door before going inside to find what they needed. He came back pleased, with two boxes of lasagna noodles and two cans of tomato sauce. He had also grabbed the seasonings needed from the spice rack. He placed the items on the table and looked over to his mother.

With a grin Sara pulled out the hamburger and cheddar cheese and placed them on the table as well. She grabbed out the cheese grater and a bowl and Duo set to work grating cheese while she gave the tomato sauce and spices to Solo to mix in another bowl. Then she turned on the oven to heat and began browning the hamburger, adding seasonings to the meat as well. Then she boiled a pot of water and soaked the lasagna noodles for a bit, just enough to make them no longer hard. Pulling out a baking pan she sprayed it with Pam and then put the first layer of noodles down, then she spread a layer of meat sauce before Duo sprinkled a layer of cheese across it. They repeated these steps until all of it was in the pan. As they finished the stove dinged that it was pre-heated and they put the pan in, set a timer and cleaned the dishes used so far.

As Duo was drying the bowls and putting them away Solo asked him, “Were you still going to the fair this weekend Duo?”

Duo looked over at him, “Yeah I was. I planned on helping you and mom set up your booth and helping Mrs. Schbeiker set up hers before me and Hilde hit the food stands and the rides. Why?”

“Just wondering. I’d forgotten about it until Hilde mentioned it to us when we were leaving.” He shrugged.

“Ah. And how did she react to the bobcat scratch?” Duo waggled his eyebrows at his dad.

Chuckling, Solo blushed slightly, “Like a four year old who just caught their first fish.”

Duo snorted and nearly dropped the bowl he was drying. “Sounds like Hilde.”

Sara smiled and waited for Duo to be finished putting away the now clean dishes before she spoke. “Could we talk to you Duo?”

He blinked but sat down across the table from his father, “Sure. What about?”

“I...well. Your father mentioned a bit ago that Hilde sometimes acted like she had a crush on you.” Here Duo blushed and looked down at the table. “I just wanted to confirm my suspicion that you were/are gay.” Sara ended hastily as she sat down at the table as well.

Duo looked up at her with a small smile. “Yeah, I am. And Hilde knows. It was actually pretty embarrassing. Cause she asked me out and I was all… “Um...I don’t like girls.” It was really awkward. But she’s really understanding.”

Sara smiled at him, “Well that’s always good. I’m glad it didn’t hurt her feelings or yours.”

“Nah, she told me she’d suspected that was the case. But she wanted to try anyway.” Duo shook his head wryly.

Solo chuckled, “So did you ever actually date her?”

Duo shook his head, “No. The idea seriously grossed me out. I couldn’t help it. It wasn’t just that she was a girl either, but she’s my best friend. It would’ve just been too weird. She was okay with that though. We’ve been even closer friends since then though. A lot of people think that we are dating, which is sometimes awkward and sometimes it’s just fun to mess with people about it.”

Sara rolled her eyes and shook her head, only her son would find enjoyment in conning people in such a way.

“Did you end up finding your clearing today?” Solo asked.

“Yeah I did. I finished my paper. Though if either of you could look at it and see if anything needs work I’d appreciate it. It’s not due until next Thursday anyway.” Duo offered.

“I’d be glad to dear. You proofread most of my work, it’s only fair.” His mother replied.

“Hmm, if you print me off a copy as well I can take a whack at it.” Solo answered, “I’ve got nothing else to occupy my time for a while. At least until walking around on my leg doesn’t hurt so much.”

“Thanks.” Duo headed for his bedroom and printed off two copies of his paper for his parents and came back to the table with red pens in hand. “You don’t have to do it right now of course. But here.” And he handed over his bounty.

Solo took the offered papers and pen and set to work immediately, while Sara took both to her own bedroom and set them atop her keyboard so she wouldn’t forget about it. Then she headed back to the kitchen and began setting up a pitcher to hold Sun tea. The tea probably wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow afternoon, but the pitcher they already had was almost gone, so she figured she’d better start a new one now. She also started some green beans in a pot on the stove to go along with dinner and pulled out a bag of rolls from the pantry.

“I met a couple of new people today. Well… okay, I heard both of them, and talked to one. But I didn’t ask his name...though his sister’s name seems to be Mariemaia. They were over by the swimming hole in the river.” Duo started.

“Oh? Why didn’t you ask ‘his’ name?” Sara asked, Solo was absorbed in Duo’s paper.

“Because he was freaking HOTT mom!” Duo slumped into his chair as his mother chuckled at him. Now that his parents knew for a fact he was gay, there was no point in hiding any aspect of himself anymore. “Ugh, seriously, I’m such a loser. I nearly collapsed to the ground when he came to stand in front of me.” His eyes rolled back into his head.

“Why did he have to come and stand in front of you?”

Duo ducked his head, “Because I refused to face the river. I heard splashing so I was going to slowly peek and see if it was a black bear, but then I heard a distinctly feminine giggle. So I swung my back to it and just stood there frozen as the guy asked her what she was doing. Her response was that she was bathing.” Duo shuddered, “I may never go swimming there again.”

Sara laughed at that, “Sure you will. It’s a river Duo, the water’s not the same anymore.”

Duo shrugged, “But he came over to apologize for her. He was probably a little mystified as to why I didn’t so much as turn my head to look at him when I heard him splash through that shallow spot, but I just couldn’t. Not with a probably naked woman in the river behind me!”

Sara was having trouble keeping her laughter under control.

“He was gorgeous mom. Well over six feet tall, reddish brown hair, olive complexion, the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen and his voice!” Duo wilted to the table with a besotted expression on his face.

Sara tsked at him, “And you didn’t even ask his name. For shame Duo Maxwell.”

Duo groaned into the table as the timer went off and Sara got up to pull out dinner. Duo stood up and pulled down plates and Sara dished out big slices of lasagna to each plate before adding spoonfuls of green beans and a roll. Then Duo set the plates on the table and grabbed glasses, pouring iced tea for himself and his mother before looking to his dad, who had yet to look up from Duo’s paper. “Dad!”

Solo looked up with a start to see dinner on the table, the pan sitting in the middle of the table along with a pot of green beans and a bag of bread rolls. He looked over to his son who nodded to the pitcher in his hand and nodded. So Duo poured him a glass as well as he sat aside the paper. Then they all set down to eat.


End file.
